China fights back?
Brazil benefits.
About 66.1 million tons of China’s imported soybeans came from Brazil last year, accounting for 75 per cent of the country’s total imports. That volume was 30 per cent higher than the previous year.
The US supplied 16.6 million tons of the soybeans, down 49 per cent from a year earlier, owing to the trade spat between the two countries.
Soybean is a major source of protein for animal feeds and edible oil in China.
Last Friday, US President Donald Trump raised the tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10 per cent to 25 per cent when the world’s two largest economies failed to reach a deal after months of negotiations.
To fight back, China announced on Monday that it would increase tariffs on a further US$60 billion of American products to 25 per cent from June 1.
China’s trade spat with the US created opportunities for countries like Brazil, particularly in agriculture.
At present, soybean, cotton and maize make up 70% of Brazil’s total exports, worth about US$36 billion to China.
In 10 to 12 years, processed food products are expected to represent 40 to 50% of Brazil’s exports to China, said Igor Brandao, chief of the agribusiness division at Apex-Brasil
scmp.com |
